We all have a kitchen and we all eat food, so this is pretty universal, but what you may not know is that some of the popular foods, in your kitchen, are in fact superfoods!
So What Exactly Are Superfoods?
Superfoods are foods which are noted for their extremely good health-boosting qualities. What is surprising is how common some of these foods are.
So if you want to boost your health, without making a big effort, then make a point of imbibing most of these foods on a daily basis. Let us take a look at the top superfoods, from your kitchen, and see just how beneficial they are:
6 Health-Boosting ‘Kitchen Superfoods’ With Healing Powers
1. Garlic
Garlic is famous for the compound ‘allicin’ which has a plethora of health benefits.
Health Benefits
- It reduces cardiovascular risks. In particular, it lowers cholesterol levels, blood pressure and also heart and stroke risk factors decline.
- It is an effective anti-bacterial agent.
- It is an effective anti-microbial agent.
- It prevents the onset of the common cold.
- It helps to both prevent and even treat cancer.
2. Ginger
Ginger like garlic is a really powerful food, which treats a wide range of health issues and also acts as a really great disease-preventative.
Health Benefits
- It is an effective anti-bacterial agent.
- It is an effective anti-microbial agent.
- It treats nausea, including morning sickness.
- It possesses anti-inflammatory properties, that help to relieve symptoms of osteoarthritis.
- It lowers blood sugar levels in diabetics.
- It helps to relieve indigestion.
- It helps to reduce premenstrual tension.
- It lowers cholesterol levels.
- It reduces blood pressure levels.
- It aids brain function and may help to prevent and relieve symptoms of dementia.
- It helps to both prevent and even treat cancer.
3. Honey
Honey is really tasty, and fortunately, it is also packed full of health giving benefits.
Health Benefits
- It provides relief from allergic symptoms such as a runny nose and watery eyes.
- It helps to relieve irritating cough symptoms.
- Taking before bed time it helps young children to get a good night’s sleep.
- It is a good source of energy.
- It can be used to treat wounds.
- It contains flavonoids, which may help to prevent some cancers and heart disease from forming.
- It possesses anti-fungal properties.
- Honey, when applied to the scalp, can treat dandruff.
- Honey while a sugar, is a very good form of sugar, which produces a very good and steady release of energy. It is relatively safe for diabetics to take when compared with common sugar and sweeteners.
4. Lemons
Lemons are a great cure-all and general tonic. Lemons while acidic break down into a base, once ingested, which in turn helps to alkalinize the body.
Most foods and beverages are acidic, which includes tea, coffee, cereals, meats, milk and processed foods including biscuits, cakes and generally most foodstuffs. This acidity can result in many health imbalances.
Something as simple as a lemon, mixed with water and honey in the morning, can rebalance the body’s ph. levels, returning them to a healthy slightly alkaline state.
Health Benefits
- Lemons help to boost the metabolism and initiate weight loss. Simply mix one lemon with honey and warm water, first thing in the morning and the enzymes in the stomach will be stimulated. This is ideal on an empty stomach approximately 30 minutes prior to breakfast.
- They are high in vitamin C, which in turn boosts the immune system.
- They are high in potassium and magnesium, which is good for diabetics.
- They help to boost liver enzymes, which helps to boost energy levels.
- They improve skin quality and prevent wrinkle formation and the onset of acne.
- Lemon water flushes toxins out of the body.
- Lemons aid the digestive process and may help relieve stomach aches and indigestion, in some cases.
5. Tomatoes
Everyone loves tomatoes, but do you realize just how healthy they are? Tomatoes are high in ‘lycopene’, that offers following health benefits:
Health Benefits
- It helps to reduce plaque build-up in the arteries.
- It helps to prevent and even treat diabetes.
- It prevents macular degeneration in the eyes.
- It acts as a natural sunscreen.
- It prevents osteoarthritis from developing.
- It reliefs constipation.
- It is high in vitamin C, which helps to boost the immune system.
- It is high in folic acid, which helps to prevent birth defects in unborn babies.
- It may help to prevent or even treat depression.
6. Onions
Just about everyone eats them, but most of us should be eating more of them and more often too.
Health Benefits
- They are very high in vitamin C, which boosts the immune system.
- They possess chromium which helps diabetics.
- Onions lower cholesterol levels.
- They scavenge free radicals, which in turn prevents the onset of serious illness.
- They are natural anti-inflammatories.
- Onions contain ‘quercetin’, which has many benefits which include respiratory benefits, cardiovascular benefits, and also it helps to reduce blood pressure levels.
So these common foods, which are found in every kitchen, possess such great benefits. We tend to think that we have to eat exotic herbs and foodstuffs, in order to boost our health, which is true sometimes, but do not underestimate the benefits of these simple super foods, which are found in your kitchen.
Use these foods for both prevention and treatment of a wide variety of conditions.
How Often Should We Eat These Foods?
Try and get a portion of each of these foods every day and definitely, you will see a positive impact in your health, which goes to show that even simple foods can produce a really great benefit to our health while tasting good!